I've
been trying to figure out what to say about the last ten days in
Tuwani. It's hard to summarize what's been going on over here. There's
just too much to say. It's springtime which means that Palestinians are
working their land more and more and the weather's pleasant, so Israeli
settlers don't mind coming out to harass them. Every day it's a
struggle. Grazing sheep is risky. Harvesting crops is risking. Walking
home through the hills is risky. Palestinians are even attacked in
their own homes.
And this is intolerable. This situation is
immoral, and it's illegal too. But the law isn't really the point here.
The point is a simple one. We, as human beings, all of us deserve to
live in safety and security and we should have the ability to shape our
future. There is only one way that Palestinians in the South Hebron
Hills are going to have that freedom - Havot Ma'on and Ma'on must be
dismantled.
So, over the next few days, I'm going to give you
ten reasons why Ma'on and Havot Ma'on have got to go, and should have
gone yesterday. In no particular order, here's your first reason:
Reason
one: As long as Havot Ma'on and Ma'on remain, school children from Tuba
and Mayger Al Abeed can't get to school in a safe and timely fashion.
Adult
settlers continue to harass, attack and beat 6-12 year old Palestinian
children going to and from school in Tuwani. The Israeli army has
proven, time and time again, that they are not willing to ensure the
safety of these children. The army is supposed to escort these children
to and from school, but for the last year, they haven't been abandoning
the children for a third of the appointed escort. These leaves the
children alone while they are still in danger. And the children are
still being attacked in this area.
IMEMC
(say that five times fast) published a great article about the way that
the Israeli army has been failing to ensure the safety the school kids
military escort. Read it. And I challenge you to post on your blog
or send email to your friends or write to your newspaper and political
reps and tell them that you know that this is happening. And that you
know the only way that's it's ever going to stop if the Israeli
government demolished Ma'on and Havot Ma'on.
And while you're at it, write the Israeli Army and tell them that they've got to escort these children properly. That's a band-aid, for sure, but it's a very important one.
There's reason number one. Nine more coming at you.